6/30/2008

Workspace and Environment: Pony Pants

How long have you been involved with making music?We were all born in delaware and moved to Philadelphia in 2004 after two of us finished school and and all of were seeking change. We started playing together as Pony Pants in early 2005. Ryan and Steve (both who program beats & play guitars) are brothers and had been playing music together for most of their teenage/adult lives, but it was the long, cold winter that brought pony pants together. At the time, the three of us were living in a cheap bi-level apartment with a spare room that we used as a studio and music space. We hadn't lived in Philly for too long and still weren't really integrated in our neighborhood or scene. Lots of forced time indoor and general boredom found us in the studio room drinking copious beers, messing around, and eventually writing funny little songs together.

What is your current favorite piece of hardware?Our favorite thing right now is our Akai MPC 2000XL. We used to use a Boss Dr. Rhythm Section to program and sequence the backing beats and synths for all of our songs. After quickly maxing out the DR's potential (Ryan had owned it since high school), we began to covet an MPC and when we found a used one last year at a music store in Philly, we jumped right on it. The high quality sampling of the Akai was a revelation, and has really pushed and improved the way we write our beats. The warm, analog feel of the Akai is as vast improvement, too, and makes us horny.

What is your current favorite software or plugin? No.

How does your physical space and surroundings influence your workflow?Well now we live in a big house that has a huge space on the third floor that is our practice space and Steve's bedroom and art studio space. While the room at first seemed impossibly massive, it gets more cramped every day as we progressively cram more and more gear into it. The space is cozy and comfortable and it's in our house! So we can practice pretty much any time the mood strikes. (Except when Steve is napping). Our housemates are really nice about how loud we are, and our neighbors are, too.

Are you involved with any additional projects?Steve's been playing guitar sometimes with another project called Soltero myspace.com/soltero. That's mostly it for now.

What was the first piece of hardware you remember obtaining? Ryan says, "The Thor - my first drum set. It was candy apple red and dilapidated even before I got to it! The last thing I got was a Peavey JVM60, which is a badass all tube 60 watt head with 8 mod switches. Perfect for perching myself on my tone throne." (snickers).Steve says, "A Yamaha Cruise." (everyone starts laughing). "And a Peavey Classic. Practice Amp. Hoopty. The last thing I got was a Boss RCXL120 Loopstation."

What is on your current 'wish list'? More stacks.

Have you ever heard your music being played at a random place? Yes! once at a vintage store in Richmond, VA. we were getting bagels next door and heard it piped in through the speakers outside.

1 comment:

ha! i played with these guys a couple years ago at the legion of doom in columbus. had a great time and they're really nice/fun people who make great tunes. glad to see them getting some credit for it :)